Courses

FEEL - Focused Echocardiography in Emergency Life Support

The Resuscitation Council (UK) Focused Echocardiography in Emergency Life support (FEEL) course has been developed to meet training requirements in the UK using experience from various international courses teaching focused echocardiography in the critically ill. It is intended to train novice practitioners in the use of trans-thoracic echocardiography (TTE) during the peri-resuscitation period. It has been part of the portfolio of Resuscitation Council (UK) courses since September 2013.

Each year, on average, 15 courses are held and 200 healthcare professionals are trained.

Who is this course suitable for? The course is intended for healthcare professionals who are involved in the care of the critically ill patient, and does not require any previous echocardiography or ultrasound experience. FEEL is intended as an adjunct to Advanced Life Support, and therefore knowledge of the current ALS algorithm is required.

The course is run over one day and introduces the candidate to transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) which, if followed by ongoing study with a local mentor, will result in FEEL certification. The FEEL course is supported and recognised by the British Society of Echocardiography (BSE).

The FEEL course provides training that may be considered as an introductory course in echocardiography, including for those who subsequently wish to work towards full accreditation

The FEEL course has a high ratio of instructors to candidates. The course includes lectures, small group (maximum 3 candidates) hands-on training (HOT) sessions with live models, simulation and image interpretation.

Assessment and CertificationThere is no formal assessment on the course but candidates must attend the whole day to achieve a certificate of attendance.

After the course candidates should be able to return to work and feel confident to perform a focused peri-resuscitation echo study and acquire the necessary views. Interpretation improves with continued scanning and review of images obtained.

To obtain a certificate of completion candidates need to undertake further supervised scans which need to be reviewed by a local mentor and completed within two years from the date of the FEEL course. Candidates must keep a logbook of scans performed and the findings from these. The candidate’s initial scans should all be reviewed by their mentor. Once 50 scans have been completed and reviewed, and the candidate is judged as competent in peri-resuscitation echocardiography their mentor can sign their logbook for FEEL certification. The candidate must then contact the course director from their original FEEL course and send them the original front sheet from their completed logbook. The course director will then contact the BSE and Resuscitation Council (UK). The certificate of FEEL completion will be issued by the Resuscitation Council (UK) and is valid for 4 years. The FEEL course is recognised for 5 continuing professional development (CPD) points.

Pre-course preparationThe course manual is sent to candidates one month before the course. Candidates are expected to have prepared for the course by reading the manual.

FEEL courses are held throughout the year at centres across the UK. To apply, candidates should search for a course below and contact individual course centres for application details. Course fees are decided locally by the course centre. For further information on any aspect of the course, please contact the FEEL Co-ordinator at FEEL@resus.org.uk